5 Minutes with… Mark Cuban

Entrepreneur, TV star, and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban talks to us

Among entrepreneurs, Mark Cuban’s success story is legend. Cuban started out as a tech entrepreneur by founding MicroSolutions (which he sold in 1990 for a reported $6 million) and Broadcast.com (which he sold to Yahoo! in 1999 for a reported $5.7 billion). Currently, he is owner of NBA team the Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theatres, and Magnolia Pictures. He is also a shark investor on the ABC television series Shark Tank.

Daria Meoli: Why publish How to Win at the Sport of Business? What do you hope people get out of this?

Mark Cuban: I have been getting asked when I would write a book weekly for years now. I just felt that time was right. I hope it motivates people to accomplish more and they pick up a few pointers that might help them get to their goals faster.

DM: The subtitle of your book is, “If I Can Do It, You Can Do It.” Do you really believe that or are you just self-deprecating?

MC: I really believe it. Everyone has a unique talent in them. Most people don’t trust themselves enough to take the chance and figure out what that talent is. In the book, I really try to stress that you don’t have to plan out your life. You don’t have to take the “best job.” Most people have no idea what their future holds and it’s ok to take the time to figure it out. But once you figure it out, no matter how old you are, it’s possible for amazing things to happen. Just like they did for me.

DM: After you sold Broadcast.com, why not retire?

MC: I only do what I love to do. This is retirement for me.

DM: You’ve written criticisms about how the government has handled the economic crisis. Would you consider getting into politics yourself?